Art, Craft and Needlework, November, 2025

[Harriet]

¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° Cгε𝔞𝕋𝕀νƗ𝕥𝓨! °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸

(still having fun with the Fancy Text Generator)

Creativity makes the world go round, perhaps especially in November, when cozy winter months in overstuffed chairs beckon, OR when we're anticipating that others may appreciate our gifts or decor, made by us!

Nancy gave a link to a cool video discussion about creativity last month - check that out.

I am back to trying odd sewing puzzles , so that has my attention to creativity, too. Feeling better, so more time in sewing room!
Big sigh of relief to have actually finished an Unfinished Fabric Object of a batch of ornaments. One down, plenty to go!

In October:

FrenchFlyBebe worked on an autumn themed wall hanging with ds 7, and gave a link
Nancy knitted prayer shawls and started a blue one, has vest ideas - quilted? braided?
... .. mended a quilt, made a mat for her dear dog
KittyKatt is planning the restart of her dollhouse project after Christmas, gave encouragement
Twins' Mom has been card-making and even made a bar mitzva card for her houseguest to give
Cathy is enjoying her stitching groups and has her dh's Christmas present framed and hidden
blessed is planning stitchery to fill bits of time as she keeps many plates spinning
Harriet upcycled sweats into cardigans, made more bookmarks and (drumroll) finished a UFO

[Nancy]

Did an upcycled vest today unlined.
I put seams around all of it put a bit away from the edges so it can fray did that
with the pocket too. More rustic. I could add ties ribbons twine what ever or patches later on
if I find some and the mood strikes. It's imperfect on purpose. Ill fitting needs darts and over sized
but I wanted it to be able to go over winter layers. A learning project. I can get a better one if I do more.
I used jeans that did not fit for this project.
The front is stone washed color lighter shade and the back is the deep new jean color.
I put ribbon ties on it and a lace butterfly.

I have a pre printed vest to do co up it's a Christmas one.
I waited to do this one as I wanted it to be a pattern.
I wear a lot of vests b/c I now wear undershirts in stead of bras could not find ones that fit.
I have done a spring one before flannel lined.

[Nancy]

Working on a hem on a big piece of yardage long enough for a twin bed.
One side hemmed and the other side is trimmed.
Got it done yea!!!

[Nancy]

Today's sewing "progress" was sorting out the holiday fabric strips for projects...

That frees up space for some other crafting items! Yea!
Found a spot for kid's crafts.

Got red and white stack of quality quarters Waverly brand to go with the red white and green quilt strips from a jelly roll I pulled
out the blue colors I wanted from them.

I found a pressing roll today at the thrift shop I grabbed it to go with my pressing ham!
I remember them from home ec. class!

Speaking of class it's come up a couple of times dd & Dgd both mentioned it.
A top needs repaired a friend has bought torn I think.
So might be doing it and or showing them how to do that.

This is close to what I think the person that did the quilt blocks I got at a yard sale this summer at 25 min mark you can see the block lay out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs7-anfAVhY

[Harriet]

I hadn't seen that done before, Nancy. Like taking a simple Rail Fence into a much more interesting block. Very clever. She does a good job of explaining pressing. I see how the starch would be sort of helpful - I've just never used starch in quiltmaking.

You're getting a lot done. I like your "today's progress". Good job on organizing and finding space for things. Btw, I no longer believe that bras that feel good exist, lol. I think they are a myth.

My crafting progress today was finishing the last four of the six bookmarks I made for trick-or-treats but was only able to give to two children. (I'm not unhappy about that, because I did other fun things for the other children. They weren't left out.) It was enjoyable to assembly-line those, even though there were only four. And I thought of different beads for the ribbons at the top, so that was nice. They can go to the gift closet. I've got a few thoughts for who will receive those later. They don't look as though they are necessarily for children.

I do still have the experiment going for the other bookmarks with the trimmings on them - the ric-rac and the bias tape. But it doesn't bother me to set that experiment to the side since it is not for a particular gift but for learning. I do know that one of them will be dd27's.

So that brings me to getting the room straightened up again and projects put away. When the room is neat again, I think I am going to consider putting the sewing machine back into the sewing machine table I've been using for a cutting table. That table has problems - the "leaf" doesn't hold itself out straight anymore but slumps down a little, and the whole table is too low, causing my knees to hit it if I have on normal shoes with a heel. But I think I have fixes for those problems. And I need the better space the larger desk gives for a cutting table. We'll see. It requires lying down on the floor to plug/unplug at an outlet that's hard to reach. Thinking.

[Nancy]

Today I pressed and cut a piece of fabric I found in the basement might work for pocket of a tote, or a fabric bag.

Did some knitting for rewards between tasks and then some more tonite 6"+ done.

Considering some Sox instead of hot pads next year as projects.
Hope I can find the subsumption for that I saw some where on the web today.

Saw some kits that looking interesting too.
Went through some of my yarns for that.
Next I need to get out the needles. x
I have failed to find Sox that fit.

I've been thinking ....
A rather large star navy and white block could be used with red and white blocks fence rail blocks to look sort of
reminiscent of a flag for a Patrica themed quilt.

I put a bit of fuzzy trim to coverup the pen mark on the blue jean vest. Stitched it on this morning.

[Harriet]

Put away all bookmark projects and cleared areas, organized in the sewing room. Got some photos.

Here are the finished bookmarks except for those already given, experimenting with sizes and shapes and whether they have interfacing.
Gee, my small, old ironing board's cover has been scorched through the years, lol. Can really see it in a photo.

Curvy Bookmarks, Fall 2025.jpg

Here is a cardigan I made from the combination of a flannel shirt and a sweatshirt. Black top under it looks good, but the plaid also has brown, gold, ivory.

Cardigan placket on sweatshirt Fall 2025.jpg

[Nancy]

Those look great Harriet!
Current knitting on a prayer shawl that is now past the half way point.
I am now 75% done with the Christmas vest yea!

[Kittykatt]

Harriet, those all look amazing!

[Twins' Mom]

Wow, Harriet! Those are wonderful! Such different projects yet both colorful and lovely! I bet you'll love wearing the sweatshirt jacket!